“Remembering our Fallen” is coming to Scott County. The remembering of our Fallen Wall is a composite of pictures and information on military men and women who have lost their lives serving our county since 9/11. The wall that will be brought to Scott County honors those from Indiana. Every state has their own memorial that will be finally brought together for a permanent memorial.

The excitement in bringing this memorial to Scott County is that one of Scottsburg’s own, Joey Montgomery, who is featured on the memorial. Cpl Jordan Spears of Memphis will also be featured on the wall. This is a way to pay tribute to those who have paid the ultimate price for our protection and freedom.

There will be a memorial presentation held Saturday, February 20, at 12 noon at 2016 at the Mid-America Science Park, 821 South Lake Road in Scottsburg. This program is free and open to the public.

For those who are unable to attend the service, the Wall will be available to be viewed by the public, at the Science Park, from Monday, February 22 to early Friday, February 26, during the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Because of the positioning of the Memorial, those visiting should be able to walk through the courtyard of the Science Park. The Memorial is going to be placed directly behind the wall of glass so people can see those who have given their lives for us, even when the Park is closed.

The Corporal Jordan L. Spears Marine Corps League Detachment will be presenting the memorial. If anyone would like to assist in the expense or get involved in the Memorial call Peggy Plessinger at 1-812-528-3466. To find out more about the memorial go to www.Rememberingourfallen.org.

Marine Corporal Jordan L. Spears, 21 years old, from Memphis, was the first to die in Operation Inherent Resolve. Jordan Spears was the first casualty in the U.S. War Against ISIL.

Corporal Spears bailed out of a MV-22 Ospery when it lost power shortly after take off from the USS Makin Island on October 1, 2014. Navy and Marine Corps teams rescued the other Marine but were unable to find Spears, presumed to be lost at sea.

When they took off in the MV-22 Osprey, he and his fellow crewmen, two pilots and another crew chief, were on a mission to retrieve some soldiers from Kuwait and drop them off in Baghdad.

A few moments after takeoff, the Osprey lost power, a Defense Department report said, and with a crash seemingly immenent, Spears and the other crew chief jumped out of the craft and into the Persian Gulf.

Spears, who as a teenager was a YMCA lifeguard, could swim but his life preserver failed to automatically inflate.

The pilot of the floudering osprey, meanwhile somehow gained control and was able to return the aircraft safely to the ship’s deck.

Spears’, still in the water, continued to struggle. The surviving crew chief watched Corporal Spears go under water on at least three occasions attempting to manually inflate his LPU, the Defense Department report said, referring to Spears’ life preserver. On the last attempt, the surviving crew chief did not see Corporal Spears return to the surface.

And so Spears became the first American killed in Operation Inherent Resolve, the name the Defense Department has given to U.S., military operations against the Islamic State, also know as ISIS or ISIL.

The plane was operating in support of a mission in Iraq and Syria. Because the operation had not yet been named, Spear’s death was initially classified as a non-global war on terror casualty, according to the DOD.

On October 15, more than two months after the U.S. began launching air strikes against the Islamic State, the Pentagon named the operation Inherent Resolve.

Corporal Jordan L. Spears had signed up for the marines at age 17 and was three years into a five year enlistment. Despite a lengthy search, Spears’ body was not recovered.

Spears’ parents are Greg and Cosette Spears. Jordan had attended Silver Creek High School. In the halls of Silver Creek High School hangs a bulletin board with photographs of 69 recent graduates wearing their military finery. This picture includes Spears, Class of 2011. In his high-collared dress blues and high white hat, spears looks stern. He was the school’s first military death since Vietnam. Spears had plans after leaving the Marine Corps to return home. His plan was to get a job as a chef. In high school Spears took culinary classes.